The Ocean's Patient Predators
In The Ocean's Patient Predators, narrator Sir David Attenborough highlights the behavior of ocean predators like manta rays and whitetip sharks, and their prey. These predators navigate the vast ocean, using senses like taste to locate food. Smaller fish, like pilot fish, benefit from the shark's hunting efforts. Even predators face challenges when hunting swift and agile prey, such as rainbow runners. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
Lesson Express
Q: How is the whitetip shark able to detect its prey?
A: Taste in the water is equivalent to smell in the air and the sharks are able to “taste” their prey from far away.
Q: How do pilot fish benefit from swimming with sharks?
A: Sharks can find prey much more easily than pilot fish, and so the pilot fish collect the scraps from the shark’s meals.
Q: What makes rainbow runners difficult for predators to catch?
A: They are swift and agile, so are hard to catch.
More Like This
In Frigate Birds and Sailfish on the Hunt, narrator Sir David Attenborough observes the remarkable hunting techniques of frigate birds and sailfish in the open ocean. Frigate birds soar high above the water, scanning for fish below, while sailfish — some reaching lengths of 10 feet (3 meters) — surround schools of bait fish. The sailfish cooperate with one another, using their speed, agility, and color-changing abilities to confuse and catch their prey. As the bait fish move toward the surface, frigate birds dive down to snatch them. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Nocturnal Migration of Plankton, narrator David Attenborough explains how plankton retreats into the ocean depths as the Sun rises. To follow them, we descend in a submarine where pressure increases, and temperatures drop. At 500 meters (1,640 feet) below, strange creatures emerge. Organic particles, known as marine snow, drift down, serving as food for many animals like the sea spider, which uses feathered leg-like appendages to capture it. Meanwhile, the sawtooth eel waits motionless, ready to strike at silhouetted prey swimming near the faint glow from the surface. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Frigate Birds and Sailfish on the Hunt, narrator Sir David Attenborough observes the remarkable hunting techniques of frigate birds and sailfish in the open ocean. Frigate birds soar high above the water, scanning for fish below, while sailfish — some reaching lengths of 10 feet (3 meters) — surround schools of bait fish. The sailfish cooperate with one another, using their speed, agility, and color-changing abilities to confuse and catch their prey. As the bait fish move toward the surface, frigate birds dive down to snatch them. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In The Nocturnal Migration of Plankton, narrator David Attenborough explains how plankton retreats into the ocean depths as the Sun rises. To follow them, we descend in a submarine where pressure increases, and temperatures drop. At 500 meters (1,640 feet) below, strange creatures emerge. Organic particles, known as marine snow, drift down, serving as food for many animals like the sea spider, which uses feathered leg-like appendages to capture it. Meanwhile, the sawtooth eel waits motionless, ready to strike at silhouetted prey swimming near the faint glow from the surface. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.